Red Velvet Cake

Two big, fluffy cake layers make this an especially impressive version of an old favorite. Vegetable oil is traditionally used in red velvet cake, and we add just enough to keep the layers tender and super moist without an oily taste or feel.

Marble Cheesecake

Round out your next wine and cheese party with this sophisticated dessert. For the marbled effect, fill your pie crust with the cheesecake batter before drizzling a chocolatey, cream-based mixture on top, then swirl with a knife for your desired pattern.

German Chocolate Cake

This chocolatey classic is all about the coconut filling. We cook up ours like a custard so it is extra rich and creamy. Made with cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate, the cake has a light texture and subtle chocolate flavor. Semisweet chocolate is also used in the simply delicious ganache frosting.

Strawberry Poke Cake

This beloved dessert consists of not-too-sweet buttermilk cake and very lightly sweetened whipped cream. The cake tastes best only slightly chilled, so let it warm up a bit after being refrigerated as you whip the cream for the topping.

Purely Pound Cake

This buttery pound cake would make an excellent addition to brunches or bake sales. For convenience, you can prepare the cake a day in advance; wrap in parchment paper before serving, as it helps the cake stay moist.

Spiked Mudslide Cake

This old-fashioned cake is buttery, tender and not too sweet, with a slightly dense crumb. The elegant frosting, a meringue-based buttercream, is perfumed with coffee liqueur. Make sure your butter is at room temperature, and beat it with the sugar for the full five minutes so the cake will bake up light and fully rise. It tastes best when served the day it is made.

Tres Leches Cake with Dulce de Leche Frosting

This is everything you love in a traditional tres leches ("three milks") cake –– it's sweet, creamy and custardy –– but with an impressive new look and shape since it's baked in a tube pan. If you have leftover cake, be sure to refrigerate it on a rimmed plate, as some of the sweet milk mixture will run out of the cake and puddle on the plate. The next day, just spoon some of the liquid over the cake slices.

Homemade Yellow Cake Mix

We were aiming for a moist and tender classic yellow birthday cake here, and that's what you'll get with this super-easy cake mix made with familiar pantry staples. Put together a batch or two to store away for those days when you're in a homemade-cake mood. Just add eggs, oil and vanilla and you'll be ready to go.

Homemade Chocolate Cake Mix

If you have five minutes, you have time to make this cake mix. Then when you are craving a moist, cocoa-rich chocolate cake, you just have to mix it with eggs, vanilla and oil in a bowl, no machinery required. It's as easy as using a boxed mix, but it's homemade.

Rainbow Ribbon Cake

Party guests will be awestruck by the bright bursts of color on this stunning cake, but you don't have to tell them it's easier than it looks. For the rainbow effect, Sandra uses colored icing and a variety of gelatin flavors to stain the frosting and cake, respectively.